Many products perform functions that require illumination. In particular, the medical and dental areas include numerous procedures where optimal lighting conditions are necessary. When performing an operation, a surgeon almost always requires precisely directed lighting to obtain a clear view of the anatomical region being operated upon. Diagnostic procedures within the gastrointestinal tract typically require a fiberoptically illuminated scope. Dentists too utilize headlamps and other types of overhead lighting to obtain an improved view within a patient's mouth. Such lighting requirements are described in my co-pending patent application Ser. No. 60/029,664 filed Oct. 29, 1996.
To date, medical and dental appliances have been lighted primarily through the use of fiberoptic illuminators which project light through an attached cable containing glass or plastic fibers. The cable is typically connected to a surgical instrument or headlight device that projects light onto the area to be illuminated. Certain of the surgical instruments and appliances used for these procedures are manufactured with a dedicated channel containing glass or plastic fiber, which conveys light to the point where it is finally projected on the operative sight. See, for example, Schultz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,134, which is directed to a dental instrument and Moore et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,047, which relates to a disposable light conductive speculum. The latter patent employs a dedicated light bar that is mounted to a speculum. Light is projected from a distal end of the bar, through the air and toward the area of the body cavity being examined.
Unfortunately, most of the previously known medical and dental appliances are not optimally illuminated. The need to project light through glass or plastic fiber contained in a dedicated channel causes the amount of light to be restricted and typically creates a small spot of light rather than broadcasting light over a wider area. Standard headlamps and hand-held lights are simply impractical and inadequate for examining region's inside a patient's mouth, nose, ears, throat, rectum and genital tract. Obviously, such devices are useless for examinations of the gastrointestinal tract. Not only are conventional medical and dental instruments inadequately illuminated, they are usually relatively complicated and expensive to manufacture and maintain. And most are not readily disposable. As a result, inconvenient and often expensive sterilization processes and equipment are required in order to reuse these instruments.